For the second year in a row, I released weekly episodes with a few exceptions. Because this podcast has been running for five years now, I decided to repurpose older content about once a month and release it as part of the regular schedule. For example, I’ve shared various folklore and stories of ghostly apparitions in the south over the years, usually in the fall. This past October, I pulled together several of those segments into an episode titled “Stories of Spirits in the Carolinas.” I find this works well because a lot of newer listeners may not have gone far enough back in the catalogue to hear some of these cases. In mid-September, I went out of the country for a few weeks on a dream cruise to Greece and Turkey, so I reran some older episodes during that time.
Another change I made this year was switching my podcast host from SoundCloud to Spotify back in February, and using a new platform called Riverside.fm to record episodes. As you’ve probably heard in my sponsor messages, using Riverside has allowed me to integrate video into the podcast production. My YouTube and Instagram followers have been steadily growing since I began doing this, so I’m glad I made the switch.
This past May I celebrated five years of Missing in the Carolinas! It’s hard to believe that my pandemic podcast project continues to grow and make strides. The show has helped me grow a platform in the true crime space and possibly give me an exciting opportunity in the new year. I’ll keep you posted if it develops further. Last year I shared that a suspense/thriller book I’ve written had garnered interest from a few literary agents. While that was exciting, over a year later I still don’t have an offer of representation. The book is currently under consideration with a small publishing house, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I do think the genre of book would appeal to the listeners of this podcast, so I’m not giving up on it just yet. I may hire a book doctor to help me with developmental edits and I have and continue submitting it.
Now let’s talk podcast stats. Analyzing download numbers has always been a little difficult because every podcast platform presents them in a different way. I do know that listeners consumer the podcast mostly on Spotify and not as much on Apple Podcasts, which are my two main platforms. Spotify is our main podcast host. I switched over from SoundCloud earlier this year and it has been easier to analyze stats this way.
Missing in the Carolinas released 42 new episodes this year.
We’ll talk about Spotify stats first. The show has 8,803 followers on the platform, a nine percent increase from last year. Spotify listeners spent 916,000 minutes consuming the show this past year, equivalent to 636 days of listening. Ep. 146, The Unsolved Murder of Brenda Holland, Part 2, received the most comments on the platform.
Missing in the Carolinas has been streamed more than 665,000 times across all platforms. Each episode receives more than 1,000 downloads within the first few weeks of publication.
The top countries listening to the show on Spotify are:
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
60 percent of Spotify listeners binge two or more episodes in one day.
People who listen to Missing in the Carolinas also listen to Dateline NBC, 48 Hours, Crime Junkie, Murder in America, and The Vanished.
40.4 percent of listeners are 45 and older.
24.6 percent are 35-44
10.6 percent are 28-34
77.2 percent of listeners are female, 18.2 percent are male, and 3.6 percent are not specified.
Top Artists for listeners of this podcast are
- Taylor Swift
- Morgan Wallen
- Kendrick Lamar
- Zach Bryan
- Teddy Swims
Their Top Audiobook Listens are:
- The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers and Alex Kiester
- The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
- The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
- Girl, Alone, An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller by Blake Pierce
- His Other Wife, A Stella Fall Psychological Suspense Thriller by Ava Strong
We’re a top 10 show for 986 fans on Spotify. It has been shared more than 96 percent of other shows on the platform.
The average podcast rating is 4.4 stars.
Here are the top five episodes downloaded from 2025 on Spotify.
Ep. 153-The Murder of Janet Siclari in Nags Head and the Unsolved Murder of Denise Johnson in Kill Devil Hills
Spotify: 1,679
In August of 1993, 35-year-old Janet Siclari was murdered on the last night of her vacation on the Outer Banks, within walking distance to her hotel room. Based on physical evidence left on her body at the scene, investigators were able to pinpoint the killer four years later with the help of CODIS. I also talked about the still unsolved murder of 33-year-old Kill Devil Hills resident Denise Johnson.
Ep. 154-Five Crimes from the North Carolina Mountains
Spotify: 1,679
I pulled from the catalogue to discuss the cold case of Nancy Morgan from Madison County, Beverly Sherman and Pamela Murray from Asheville, the murder of Denise Durham from East Flat Rock, and the workplace shooting of Michelle Marlowe in Hickory.
Ep. 145-The Unsolved Murder of Brenda Holland in the OBX, Part 1
Spotify: 1,572
In the summer of 1967, 19-year-old Brenda Holland took a job as a makeup supervisor with the Lost Colony outdoor drama in Manteo, South Carolina. Excited to continue training for a potential career in the theatre, she embraced the opportunity with joy and enthusiasm. But after only a month on the island, Brenda disappeared after a date with a Lost Colony member. Her deceased body turned up five days later in the Albemarle Sound, and despite an extensive investigation, the murder remained unsolved until a journalist dug into the case and provided his personal theory of what happened.
Ep. 128-Four North Carolina Serial Killers
Spotify: 1,514
I shared four stories of serial killers from North Carolina in this episode—Terry Alvin Hyatt, John Wayne Boyer, Lesley Eugene Warren, and Henry Louis Wallace.
Ep. 134-Missing and Murdered While on Vacation
Spotify: 1,461
There are many stories of people going missing and being murdered in Carolinas while traveling or on vacation. I talked about the decades-long mystery of Jane Jock Doe from South Carolina, New York resident Britanee Drexel, who went missing after a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Judith Smith, who went missing from Pennsylvania and was discovered murdered months later in North Carolina, and the murders of Ohio residents Wesley and Bonnie Mahaffey, who were killed in Asheville after winning a free vacation.
Let’s talk stats from Apple now. Followers are 2,500 (up three percent from last year). The average podcast rating is 4.7 stars of 146 ratings.
The top cities for the podcast are:
Charlotte
Atlanta
Washington, D.C.
Raleigh
New York City
The top countries listening to the podcast through Apple are:
United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
The Apple Podcast Top Episodes were a little different from the Spotify streams. For Apple, they were:
Ep. 159-The Murder of Michelle Young in Raleigh
1,129 Plays
In November of 2006, a quiet residential neighborhood in Raleigh was stunned when 29-year-old Michelle Young was found murdered in her home, while her 2-year-old daughter was emotionally distraught but unharmed physically. Michelle’s husband had been traveling for work at the time of her death. When he learned of the crime, he cooperated with investigators only to a certain extent, staying quiet about all other details of their life or the night she was murdered until a civil lawsuit finally prompted a criminal trial three years later.
Ep. 160-Todd Kohlhepp’s Crimes in South Carolina
891 Plays
When a South Carolina couple went missing in the fall of 2016, their friends and family knew something was wrong. Using cell phone data, investigators tracked the pair to an isolated piece of property in Woodruff, and what they found there was shocking. The discovery would also provide answers to an unsolved quadruple homicide from 2003.
Ep. 161-Missing in November
672 Plays
Renee shares stories of people who went missing in North Carolina during the month of November from the show catalogue. Jeffrey Mays, Ted Wall, Bill Hollingsworth, and Joseph Johnson all are presumed to be lost at sea. Young Chang walked away from a nursing home more than 20 years ago. Theresa Fetter disappeared from Wilmington after falling in with the wrong crowd. And Horry County officials have identified a man whose identity was unknown after he drowned in a hotel pool in 2016.
Ep. 164-The Abduction and Murder of Peg Cuttino in South Carolina
614 Plays
In December of 1970, 13-year-old Peg Cuttino went missing in the middle of the afternoon in Sumter County. Police wondered if her father’s job as a state senator made her a target for kidnapping and ransom. Peg was found murdered a few weeks later, and while a man was convicted of the crime and sent to prison, many in the area wonder if he was really responsible for Peg’s death.
Ep. 158-The Murder of Dr. Joe Smith in Lancaster, S.C.
578 Plays
South Carolina physician and assistant county coroner Dr. Joe Smith, Jr. probably never expected to be the subject of a murder investigation. But when he was found murdered in his home on October 29, 1979, all signs pointed to his killer being someone who knew him well.
In addition to covering true crime and missing persons stories from the Carolinas, I shared several different interviews in 2025 that I’m proud of.
Those interviews include:
Brian and Cameron Santana, authors of “A Murder on Campus,” about the Ginger Olson cold case from Asheville in Episode 124,
Terry Harmon, author of “Convoluted,” the book about a still-unsolved triple homicide from Boone, in Episode 131.
Helen Zuman, author of “Mating in Captivity,” a memoir about her time in a neo-hippie cult on Zendik Farm in North Carolina in Episode 139
Shellie Taylor, Local Program History Specialist from the Iredell County Public Library in Episode 141
Dick Harpootlian, South Carolina attorney and author of the true crime book “Dig Me a Grave,” in Episode 162
Stephanie Tinsley, host and creator of the podcast, “Everything They Missed,” in Episode 163
I also produced a bonus episode in June of this year, which featured a discussion with author Hope Andersen, a North Carolina based author who recently released the suspense/thriller novel MotherLove in Episode 147.
That looks like all I wanted to share about the podcast from 2025. Whether you are a new listener or have been around from the beginning, I appreciate every comment, listen, share, and words of encouragement.
Happy New Year!
